This is one of the most precious gifts I have every received. My dearest friend, Jolene Brown, wrote her feelings about me for my 80th birthday, each wrapped around a $10 bill. I will save these words forever! It is something that anyone can do for a treasured friend or family member, so I want to share this with all of you. You will truly touch their hearts as Jolene did mine.
To learn more about Barbara and her work, go to http://www.barbaraglanz.com
CHRISTMAS 2022
Dear Friends,
Finally, it seems we are almost back to a “new” normal. As I write this letter, I realize how much travel I have done even though my business has really slowed down since Covid. Gratefully, I continue to be very active – swimming a mile, going to a trainer, and walking three miles on the beach or treadmill. I just thank God that my only health issue is asthma which has been under control for years. With each day, I am more and more grateful for all the blessings in my life – for my faith, for family, for friends, for health, and even though I am forgetting names more, I think I still have a pretty sound mind! 😉
I am also blessed with all the amazing experiences we have to take advantage of in Sarasota – the Opera, several theatre groups, the Van Wezel concert hall, the Symphony, and the ballet. Then for my brain and heart, I have my Bible study group and my Book Group which has been together for over ten years. (If you haven’t read “Have You Seen Luis Valdez?” by Catherine Ryan Hyde, it will warm your heart.)
January – On Christmas Day we all flew to Palm Springs, CA, where I rented a large house on the water for everyone except Gavin (working). We had fun at the zoo, renting a dune buggy in the desert, visiting an outsider art house called Robolights, hiking in Joshua Tree, doing puzzles, and discovering the goofy Republic of Slowjamastan.
February – Frank and I celebrated our 8th dating anniversary. He brings me lots of joy,
March –The Gawliks came for their annual visit. We had fun days at Busch Gardens, Mayakka State Park, Van Gogh, the Big Cat Habitat, and lots of beach and pool time.
April – My brother, Bruce, from Colorado came for a week. He is such fun to have as he takes out my kayak and paddle board and we even go fishing!
May – I flew to Portland for my birthday and Mother’s Day. Gretchen, Erin and I did a “girls only” 2 night trip to the Columbia Gorge Inn where all the movie stars and celebs used to go. Then the whole family went to the Timbers soccer game later that week.
June – June was a huge month of celebration. I did a program for Home Street Bank in Seattle, a favorite client, and then the whole family met at Garrett’s for Kinsey’s graduation from the University of Washington. We are all so PROUD of her –she graduated in three years even with being in constant pain from the aftereffects of the chemo after having leukemia. She hopes to use her experiences to work as a therapist in the hospital with children who have cancer. Later in the month Frank took me to Captiva Island for two days. Sadly, after the hurricane almost nothing is there anymore.
July – I attended the National Speakers Association in Nashville and got to reconnect with all my speaker friends from around the world.
August – Frank and I took a “bucket list” trip to the Fjords in Norway. The scenery was breathtaking – we started in Amsterdam and then went to Edifjord, Molde, Geiranger (the farthest north), and Bergen, the home of Edvard Grieg. I posted many pictures on my facebook page. Later in the month I attended the Veteran Speakers Network in DC. It is a lovely time of sharing with people I treasure.
September – I was blessed to take another “bucket list” trip with my friend, Mary Bensel, to the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. It started in 1642 and is done only every 10 years. Over 2000 people in the little village participate in the 7 hour play which is in German. In the town there is a law that from Ash Wednesday 19 months before the play is presented, no one in the village can shave or cut their hair….so they all look like the people in Jesus’ time! We also got to see Mad King Ludwig’s Linderhof Castle and the Cinderella Castle as well as day trips to Innsbruck and Salzburg, the home of Mozart and the filming of “The Sound of Music.” September ended wildly with Hurricane Ian. Although we had to evacuate the island and were without water and internet for several days, we were so VERY blessed that we had little damage unlike our friends just 70 miles south. Please keep them in your prayers.
October – The most exciting thing in October was being a part of a book launch for an anthology I was asked to be in titled, “Wisdom Before Me.” The book for women is made up of 15 women’s amazing stories and what they learned to help others.
November – I am excited to be taking the Gawlik family and Erin on a Mexican Riviera cruise for Thanksgiving week. We are going to snorkel, zip line, and swim with the dolphins. We leave from San Diego, so afterwards I will spend 3 days with my 99 year old aunt. I adore her – my role model for staying active both physically and mentally!
December – I am having fun hosting some parties to show the new items from Erin’s company which is helping women in India, www.collective-heart.com, “Owned by Women, Made by Women, Loved by Women.” The money goes to provide housing, medical and dental care, and a fair 8 hour wage for women who were living on the streets. It is changing lives for women and their families, so check out the website.
Just a quick update on the family: Garrett got a promotion with Amazon as Director of Business Development and has taken up rowing as a pastime. Ashley is teaching riding and participating in shows with their horse, Rally. Gavin has moved to San Diego and is working for a car dealership. Kinsey is interning at Seattle Children’s Hospital and will be going to grad school this spring or fall.
Gretchen is working parttime as Marketing Specialist for several boutiques in Portland, OR, while Randy continues his freelance website work. Owen, who is a senior this year, is looking at colleges and enjoying having his driver’s license. Simon, a sophomore, is a great soccer player and is having fun with his new Hedgehog. They also have two dogs and a cat, so their house is always busy!
Erin is working diligently to grow her company and has also taken on two new lines of women’s clothing which she is representing in several parts of the county. She still has her two kitty babies, Clover and Cricket.
Our world situation is so full of hate and divisiveness right now that we really need kindness and love more than ever. Many of you know the mantra for my life from Mother Teresa, “Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.” May you all find JOY in the months ahead, and may you be filled with the peace of the Lord, knowing He is in charge.
Blessings,
What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?
As the author or 14 books and a professional speaker who has traveled the world, I have never been asked this question before, so it has been a special joy to mull over what I would say.
I think I was pretty mature at age 20, perhaps because of being the oldest of four children, growing up in a small town, and a dog bite incident when I was five years old and the subsequent surgeries. On the whole, thinking back, I actually made very good decisions growing up except maybe for some silliness with friends. Choosing to spend a lot of time practicing my piano, doing my best in school, choosing where to go to college, all were good decisions.
Whatever I did, I always did to the very best of my ability, a lesson I learned as a very young person. That led to many awards and honors during those years. I also made an excellent choice in a husband, falling in love with the most honest and loyal person I have ever known……and he was handsome, too! 😉 We raised three beautiful children along the way.
I think one of the important lessons I learned early in life was the idea of the old saying, “Bloom where you are planted.” Find the good in every situation and make the most of it. Some of the wisdom I have gained over the years I think I intuitively knew in those days, but now it is fun to put this wisdom into words.
Barbara at 20 in her college graduation picture
First of all, take care of YOURSELF. Eat right, do some exercise every day, find alone time each day, get a good night’s sleep, and treasure friends and family. Even in my 70’s I am committed to at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. I either swim a mile, walk 3 miles on the beach, go to my trainer, or walk on the treadmill. I am so serious about this that even if it is 10:00 pm and I haven’t yet exercised, I am on the treadmill in my extra bedroom. Commitment is the key! Our minds and our bodies are our temples, and we have a responsibility to take care of them to the best of our ability.
Plan quiet time each day to refill your emotional bank account and to keep connected to your spiritual self. This can be done through meditation, prayer, journaling, or reading a spiritual book such as a devotional or the Bible. I love “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young and “Mornings with Jesus Daily Bible” from Guideposts.
Remember that every day is a GIFT. Look for the blessings even in the most difficult situations in your life. That is always your choice, and if you truly look, you WILL find them. I love the quote from William Winter, “As much of Heaven is visible as we have eyes to see.”
When our second child died, it was the hardest thing I will ever have to face in my life. However, many blessings came out of that time, and one of them was learning to live five minutes at a time. On the most difficult days when I didn’t think I could get out of bed or even get through an hour, I could always make it through five minutes., just five minutes, five minutes, five minutes.
What that taught me was to always be fully in the present. When I am with someone, I am totally with them. This is what mindfulness is about. “Every day is a gift. That is why we call it ‘the present’.”
I also believe that every person who comes into my life is a GIFT Sometimes I can just untie the ribbon, sometimes I can peek inside, and other times I can dig right down to the bottom. However, each time I pass that gift by, it is my loss.
Nurture your FAITH, whatever that may be for you. It is the only thing that can NEVER be taken away from you. I have learned in my spiritual life that in surrender comes perfect freedom. I just have to trust that no matter how bad things get, God IS in charge. His plan is much better for me than my own plans, and that surrender takes the anxiety for the future away. I must admit, however, that as a human being, I do take control back more often than I should, but I am learning each day to give it up to God.
When I started my company at age 52, I said, “God, You gave me this gift, so You put me where You want me to be,”and the result has been the unbelievable opportunity to speak to audiences all over the world. Because I knew from the beginning I was just the “messenger,” I have never gotten caught up in ego (Edging God Out), and my business has all been word of mouth and referral. I am very clear who is the CEO of my company! 😉
I have a new friend who was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Syria for 63 days several years ago. He said they took everything from him – his passport, his cell phone, all his contact information, and even his clothes. It was completely dark, and he didn’t even know what day it was (though he figured out a system to once a day determine light or dark to try to keep count.) He shares so powerfully that the ONLY thing that they could not take from him was his faith, and that kept him sane through the whole horrible ordeal.
RELATIONSHIPS are what life is all about. Be the best family member, spouse, parent, and friend you can be with the skills you have been given. And be a friend to have a friend.
I often think about who might miss me when I am gone. Have I truly made a difference in this world? My idea of Heaven has become that we will see all the people we have touched in some way, most of whom we know nothing about. I can hardly wait to see who is in that line!
Everything can be taken from us so quickly – our health, our homes, our possessions, the people we love, and yet our relationships and our memories can never be taken away. However, we must make the relationships in our lives a priority.
During the pandemic I decided to do a “100 Day Project.” Every day I called one or two people who had influenced my life in some way, many of whom I had not spoken with in years. What a precious gift that was to me – and I hope to them, too! It rekindled many friendships that had gotten buried in busyness.
I keep a “Blessings Journal,” and most days I write the people I interacted with and what blessings I received that day. Sometimes they are big things, but mostly they are small things that happened in my day from a phone call to an email or a surprise gift. No matter how busy or difficult a day is, I can always find one or two blessings, and most of them come from the relationships in my life.
Also, every Thanksgiving I make a list of all the people in this world that I love. I am always so touched by how long that list has grown to be, and how blessed I am to have so many beautiful relationships.
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You, too? I thought I was the only one.’ “ ~ C.S. Lewis
LOVE all people. Even if you do not agree with them or don’t even like them, they were still created in the image of God, so RESPECT them as human beings. (That does not mean that you have to spend time with them! 😉 I believe that our only responsibility in life is simply to love other people as we meet them on our journey. That is why I created the – / 0 / + chart to show the CHOICE we have in every interaction.
We can discount the person and make them feel less important than us or our organization. That leaves them with a minus. We can simply take care of the business at hand which is a zero. OR we can create a Human Level connection which says . “I SEE YOU as a human being” and that leaves the person with a plus because they interacted with you.
Always try to create a plus for the person you meet, even if it is only for a moment. Just using their name, asking them a question about themselves, complimenting them, or sharing a thought with them lets them feel recognized and that they count for something.
I often tell this story about an experience I had in the Ladies Restroom at O’Hare airport as a simple example. It was a cold, snowy February morning, and as I walked into the restroom, there was a woman all hunched over, listlessly cleaning, simply going through the motions. I walked up to her, lightly touched her on the arm, looked right into her eyes, and said, “Thank you so much for keeping this restroom clean. You are really making a difference for all of us who travel.”
She looked at me like a doe in the headlights and then out came a big smile. She perked up, and she started cleaning with a passion. By the time I came out of the stall, she was handing out towels to all the women who were washing their hands.
I left with tears in my eyes, because that cost me nothing. And what did I tell her in that one statement? She was of value; I saw her as a human being with a purpose.
After hearing that story, my audience members tell me they never go into a restroom where someone is cleaning without thanking them. That is just one simple example of how choosing to make human level connections can make such a difference in this world.
My personal philosophy of life has come from Mother Teresa: “Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.”
Learn to FORGIVE, not for the other person (they probably will never know), but for yourself. Holding grudges eats away at you, so forgive and let them go. That goes for yourself as well! We are only human, and we ALL make mistakes.
I suggest that my audiences think about “mis-takes.” Even in the movies, it takes many takes to get a final print, so a “mis-take” is just one thing that didn’t work…..and we can learn from our “mis-takes” if we forgive ourselves.
“The person who succeeds is not the one who holds back, fearing failure, nor the one who never fails…..but rather the one who moves on in spite of failure.” ~ Charles Swindoll
Read and LEARN something new every day. That is what keeps you growing and young, even if you are chronologically old. I have been a reader my entire life. One of my favorite quotes is from S. I. Hayakawa, “In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live: if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.” I suggest you keep a list of all the books you read every year. It is so affirming to go back and realize all the experiences you have had through your reading.
It is so important, too, for us to be open to new learnings, especially with technology today. I am so proud of my 98 year old aunt who uses email every day and even zoom to connect with one of her sons in Thailand. She sends me the “naughtiest” emails of any of my friends! 😉
As a speaker, when the pandemic started, I had to learn how to present in Zoom, how to do webinars for my clients, and how to scan documents rather than faxing. Although I came kicking and screaming to some of it as I am not a techy person, I have continued to learn.
One example was being asked to do a Zoom keynote to over 3000 people. I don’t think I slept well for a week, worrying if the technology would fail (my office is in my home, so I do not have a trouble shooter tech person here to help!). It went well, but I still missed the personal interaction. However, I LEARNED. Continual learning keeps our minds sharp as well as open to new ideas.
Today we can always expand our horizons with listening to podcasts, Ted talks, and searching Google for things that interest us. And if you are having problems, all you have to do is to ask a neighbor kid or a grandchild. They will help you keep young!
Be RESILIENT. No matter what happens in your life, you always have choices in how you respond. I appreciate this quote from Florence Littauer, “I am not responsible for my situation, but I am responsible for my reaction to it.”
Like so many others in their later years, I have had a lot of pain in my life. We lost our second child, Gavin, when I was just 28 years old, the hardest thing I will ever have to bear.
In that same year, my Dad died unexpectedly at age 62, Nana, our St, Bernard puppy died, and I found a lump in my breast. And finally, my dear husband Charlie died when I was just 56. I was very young to be a widow, so it was an extremely lonely time for me. However, I learned that I could either be better or bitter – it was my choice.
Even though I had some rough times grieving (Gavin was buried on Christmas Eve which is the birth of a baby, and I made a move to Florida where I knew no one soon after Charlie died). However, through it all, I still today CHOOSE to be a positive person, and that has served me well.
Marcia Graf says, “Out of the coldest and seemingly most barren times of our lives, we discover hidden truths and bring them as gifts into the lives of others.”
Keep things in PERSPECTIVE. It is easy for little things to become big things. Try to think, “Will this matter five or ten years from now?” One of the things that happens, especially when you are depressed or grieving, is that we can become overwhelmed with small decisions or details.
It helps so much to have some kind of support group to help you see the bigger picture. Professionally, I am in a MasterMind group of speaker friends from all over the country. We meet once a month and share ideas and challenges. Personally, I am in a sharing group from my church as well as a Bible study that meets weekly. I also created a Book Group of friends that keep me grounded and help expand my horizons.
There are many resources on the internet today that can help you find a place where you feel you are not alone and you can share your concerns safely. That will help you keep difficult times in perspective.
Follow your dreams and dream BIG. Growing up in a town of 4500 in Iowa in the 50’s and 60’s, my dreams were limited by my experience and the people I knew. As I went off to college and experienced a bigger world, however, my dreams became bigger and bigger. I realized early on in my life that I could be and do anything I set my mind to, and I am grateful to my parents for that teaching. I learned to “always aim for the top.”
I was a high school English and Drama teacher for several years before our children were born. (In fact, one of the fun things I share in the introduction to my audiences is that I directed David Hasselhof in his first high school play! 😉
When our first child was born, Charlie and I decided that I would stay home and make them my career. I had a business plan and goals for them – by age seven they had all seen a ballet, an opera, and a stage play, I took them to classes at all the museums in downtown Chicago, and they had to take piano lessons from their seventh birthday to their twelfth birthday, non-negotiable.
During the nineteen years I stayed at home with them, I did some part time teaching and I finished my Master’s Degree in Adult Learning, one course a quarter for five years. (I have written an article titled “You CAN Have it All – A Message of Hope for Women Who Choose to Stay Home with Their Children” about that time. You can read a copy at https://barbaraglanz.com/articles/balance/you-can-have-it-all/ if you are in that situation.)
Then at age 48 when our oldest son was going off to Dartmouth, I went back to work as Manager of Training for a Times Mirror Company. At age 52 I started my own company as a professional speaker and author, and the rest has been amazing.
Even in my wildest dreams I never imagined I could accomplish and experience all the blessings I have had in my life, most after the age of 50 – inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame, being the first speaker on record to speak in all 50 states and on all 7 continents, being able to visit over 100 different countries, and to have precious friends all over the world.
And if a small town girl from Iowa can do all that, SO CAN YOU!
The message my parents taught me was to believe in myself and to always do my best. That is enough! And I believe that when we do that, doors open that we could never have imagined. So, never give up on yourself or your dreams. You CAN have it all!
Take time to determine your core VALUES and then use them in all the decisions you make. Do what is right. The end does NOT justify the means.
It is critically important that at any stage of your life you find a purpose larger than yourself. My purpose has varied at different times, but when I started my company, I created a personal mission statement: “I am here as the Lord’s helper to spread contagious enthusiasm and to lovingly and creatively help other people and myself see the choices we have to make a difference in the world.”
My best advice is to develop your own personal mission statement. As I move more closely toward retirement, I have realized that I don’t have to speak to 3000 people to make a difference. I can make it just one by one by one, and that is enough.
These are the values and ideas I try hard to live by. I certainly fail often, yet I keep trying to be a little better each day. May we continually learn from our own experiences, especially our failures, hold tight to our faith, and treasure the people we meet along the way.
Much love,
For more inspiring articles, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
BARBARA GLANZ BIOGRAPHY
A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to improve morale, retention and service and with individuals who want to rediscover joy and purpose in their lives.. The first speaker on record to have spoken on all 7 continents and in all 50 states, A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to improve morale, retention and service and with individuals who want to rediscover joy and purpose in their lives. The first speaker on record to have spoken on all 7 continents and in all 50 states, she is known for her inspiring presentations on Employee Engagement, Customer Service, Appreciation & Recognition, and Kindness. Barbara is the author of fourteen books including The Simple Truths of Service Inspired by Johnny the Bagger®, CARE Packages for the Workplace, and 180 Ways to Spread Contagious Enthusiasm™. Voted “best keynote presenter you have heard or used” by Meetings & Conventions Magazine, she lives and breathes her personal motto, “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™. She can be reached at bglanz@barbaraglanz.com or www.barbaraglanz.com.
For Christmas my daughters gave me a gift called “Storyworth.” Each week for a year it asks you to write the answer to an email question about your life, and at the end of the year they print a hard cover book of all your answers. This was the question for this week, and I thought it was one we all might want to answer. What would your answer be?
What do you consider one of your greatest achievements in life?
I think one of my greatest achievements has been having resilience – having the strength to keep my faith, maintain a positive attitude, and find new purpose through some really difficult times of my life. It was not always easy and sometimes took a long time, but somehow, through my belief in God’s love, my own inner strength, and the love of many dear friends and family, I was able to rise above the pain, keep on going, and even find joy in my life again after some truly heartrending situations. The blessing that has come out of these struggles is that I have been able, through my story, to help many hurting people all over the world find hope and new purpose in their own lives.
At age five I was bitten in the head by my uncle’s dog, it got infected, and they didn’t think I would live. Of course I did live, but I ended up with huge hunks of scar tissue all over my head, literally a freak. As a result, I had to have plastic surgery the next two summers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. (Interestingly, my parents allowed no pictures to be taken of me during that time, so I have never seen how awful I looked.) As horrific as this sounds, unlike my parents, I have not a single bad memory of this whole experience because of all the little kind, caring things people did for me all along the way. Many times I have been able to share this story with my audiences to illustrate the differences we can each make, with a little kindness, in people’s lives every day.
When I was only twenty-seven years old, in one year my Dad died suddenly of a heart attack at age 62, our one year old St. Bernard puppy died unexpectedly, and most devastating of all, our second little boy, Gavin Ward Glanz, died a day after birth, even though I had had a perfectly normal pregnancy. He was buried on Christmas Eve which of course is the celebration of the birth of a baby. No one can know the pain of losing a child of any age until it happens to you.
That year was the hardest of my whole life! It took me almost five years to be nearly whole again…….yet even in the midst of this terrible struggle, I still had the faith and the inner strength to simply learn to live just five minutes at a time….. until I could get through an hour and finally a whole day. And the greatest blessing was that I still had a purpose to live for – our two year old son, Garrett Wayne Glanz, and a hurting husband who both needed me.
I was hurting so deeply that I knew in my heart that nothing or no one could ever hurt me that much again, so I made the decision that I would alway be completely myself. That gift of authenticity has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. When I sometimes share this story with my audiences, it provides a real life lesson of LEARNING to live one day at a time, LEARNING to be vulnerable and real, and LEARNING that every day we wake up is a gift.
Finally, when my dear husband, Charlie, my soulmate and the love of my life, died of cancer when I was just 56, I had another crisis to face. All of a sudden I was alone! I did not fit in our big house in the suburbs of Chicago anymore, my children all lived across the country on the West coast, and I had to find my own way forward. I eventually decided to sell our longtime family home and move to the beach in Florida, a lifelong dream of mine to live by the water. However, it was a hard move, and I almost died of loneliness the first year because I knew no one. But thankfully, I had my work – my purpose – and with some reaching out like starting a book group and joining a church, I eventually made a place for myself in this new community.
As I write this, I am at another crossroads – I think it is about time for me to retire, so I have some new difficult decisions to make. Should I stay here on the beach, should I move closer to my children in Portland and Seattle, should I stay working just parttime, and most importantly, what will my new purpose be? Life is full of challenges but also many joys, and I know I will find my path forward as always, trusting in my own strength, friends and family, and most of all, the love and guidance of the Lord.
Charles Dickens in “Great Expectations” says, “Life is made up of many partings welded together.” I would add that life is also made up of many new beginnings if we adjust our attitude, dig deep down inside for our inner strength, and trust that God has a plan for our lives.
For more information about Barbara’s work, go to http://www.barbaraglanz.com
My children think my greatest claim to fame is that I taught David Hasselhoff in my sophomore English class at Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois, and I also directed him that summer in his first high school play. It is a fun personal fact that I always include at the end of my serious introduction when I am speaking….and it always gets a laugh from the audience!
David’s family moved to La Grange in the middle of the year in 1968, and he was assigned to my English class. Because I had gotten such great reviews from my former students my first two years of teaching, they asked me to try an experiment to see if I could keep the same spirit of learning, creativity, and fun with classes of 35- 40 students instead of the usual 25.
I learned later that after meeting me and attending his first class, he went to the principal and asked to be transferred to another class because he thought I was too young to be a good teacher. (I was 24 at the time.) The principal told him that he needed to stay for one month, and if he still felt that way, he could have a transfer. Well, he not only stayed for the rest of the year, but along with 100 other students, he signed up for the theatre class I was teaching that summer! For some reason (maybe I had an inkling that he would one day be famous???), I saved the following letter he wrote to me at the end of that school year.
Here are some of his words: “At first I thought you were way too young for a teacher which led me to believe that you might not be a a good teacher from past experiences with young teachers. But my mind was soon changed. I enjoyed the class very much even though my grades don’t necessarily show it. I am so glad I got put into this class because I think that you have helped me and will further help me this summer towards my goal in life. After all the criticism I have given you, I would really like to say that this was the best class I have had in two years – and that’s the truth! I am looking forward to working with you this summer in Theatre Workshop.”
That summer he played the lead in “Once Upon a Mattress,” the story of the Princess and the Pea, his first real theatre debut. Since the students tackled every aspect of the production, including making all the costumes as a part of the learning, we wanted to keep the them simple, so the guys all wore tunics and tights. We all laughed because after searching the world, we could never find tights to fit his long legs (I can still remember his coming to my house and trying them on and the crotch would come about to his knees 😉 . In the end, we had to sew two pairs together!
In 2007 I was speaking in Las Vegas and as I was getting off the plane, I saw a huge electronic sign advertising “David Hasslehoff, starring in ‘The Producers.’ ” When I got to the hotel, I called the concierge and asked if she could get me a ticket to the show the next night and if she could possibly get a message to David that his old English and Drama teacher was in the audience. She got a chuckle out of that and said she would try.
The next day I got a call from David’s assistant. She said he was dying to see me, and if I could stay after the show, he would send me a backstage pass. The show was delightful, and afterwards David and I spent an hour in his dressing room reminiscing, catching up on our families, and sharing what we had done in all those years. He left me with this picture which was signed with the following inscription: “To Barbara – Your enthusiasm has kept me going. Keep up the good work.”
I know he has had some rough times in his life, but that night I could still see the committed, sincere, and fun-loving young man I knew many years ago!
To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com.
I was recently asked to share some stories of my younger brother who will be 70 in February. We grew up in a small town in Iowa where our Dad was the postmaster and my mother was an art teacher. There were four of us – I was the oldest, then Bruce 16 months younger, Brian 5 years younger and Beth 10 years younger. We did not have a lot of money, but we never wanted for anything, so it was a pretty idyllic life – EXCEPT for Brian!
Though I love him dearly today, NO ONE made my life more miserable growing up than Brian! Being five years younger gave him the advantage of being “just a little kid” to my parents, and with his charm and mischievous giggle, he got by with murder (or so I thought at the time) in our house.
When he was about seven, my grandfather brought him a pet alligator from Florida. He kept it in his room in a tub, and as it grew, it could get out. Every single time, it would come to my bedroom because it was the southern most point in our house. I would yell and scream (which just absolutely delighted him!) and then make him wash the floor with Babo……YUK!!!! He held onto that thing until it got to be about two feet long, I think just to torment me.
After dinner we all had jobs – either carry out the dishes, wash the dishes, or dry the dishes. Conveniently, that was ALWAYS the time that Brian just HAD to go to the bathroom. He would stay in there grunting and singing until almost all the work was done and then suddenly graciously appear to do his part. My other brother, Bruce, and I would complain every night, but my Dad always said “Nature came first” – Ha!
When we were young, we only had a sedan car with a front seat and a back seat. There were six of us, so there were three in each seat. The rule was that Brian and I always had to be in the OPPOSITE seats, so if I was in the front with Mother and Dad, he had to be in the back. Almost every summer we would drive 8 hours to Colorado to see relatives. Of course we had no AC in those days, either, so it was uncomfortable to say the least. On those boring long drives Brian would do his best to drive me crazy! He made up the dumbest possible song about “Happy Anniversary, Farmer Alf, to Thee”” and would sing it over and over and over at the top of his lungs. When I would have hysterics and my Dad would finally tell him to “BE QUIET”, he would wait a little bit, and then he would start HUMMING the tune. Of course that started the whole scene over again! This would go on for the whole eight hours – it is amazing that my folks did not put him out of the car and drive on! 😉
When I was in Junior High, probably the worst time of a young girl’s life in terms of self-esteem. one day Brian and his friend, Larry. got up at 5:30 am, took chalk and wrote “ANNE IS FAT” (they called me Anne growing up since I had an Aunt Barbara) on EVERY SQUARE OF THE SIDEWALK FOR EIGHT BLOCKS to the school, I am sure giggling every moment of the way anticipating my reaction! Of course I was humiliated and they were delighted. That night my Dad made them go back and wash it all off, which caused even more attention. When it was time for his “punishment” amidst my wailing and tears, instead of staying mad, my folks got tickled with his giggles and ended up letting him off with a light sentence. I was FURIOUS! Can you imagine what they might have done with all that energy that could have been positive????
The year he was nine when Polaroid cameras were brand new, he got one for Christmas. The next week he proceeded to take pictures of me just getting up in the morning, in the bathroom, and even putting on my girdle (which girls wore when they dressed up in those days – a wicked version of “Spanks!”). Then the next week he took them to the high school where I was a Freshman and sold them to the highest bidder. Of course all the guys got to see them, so again he made me want to strangle him! I can just see him giggling today……..and all he got was a lecture and the camera taken away for a week.
One of my very first dates was with a guy in my sophomore class to a school dance. Brian knew how important it was to me, so of course he thought up a “plan.” The closet of his room had a window that opened onto our front porch, so when the young man came to pick me up, all dressed in his best suit, Brian dumped a bucket of water out the window on his head. Again, my parents tried to be mad but had to stifle their grins in light of Brian’s absolute delight. I still think of that poor date today.
The end result of all this (he thought good-natured) heckling was that when I was a senior in high school, I wrote a Humorous Declamation about Brian titled, “A Fly in my Ointment”……and I WON the entire State Conference! I so love the person he has become today, but it is a wonder that I did not KILL him growing up!
Now Brian has a gorgeous Executive Retreat Center in Chaing Mia, Thailand, where he coaches high level executives from all over the world. I wonder what they will think when they read about this mischievous younger brother! 😉
Here is a picture of the two of us on his visit to Florida last year.
To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
CHRISTMAS 2014:
This has been an AMAZING year of travel and adventure – 13 countries and over 40 cities–as well as the beginning of a special new relationship. My theme for this year was “Rebuilding Relationships,” and although I have been away from home much of the year, I have also had the blessing of reconnecting with many old friends all over the world as well as meeting many new ones through my travel and my speaking. The best of all was meeting Frank Cona in February on the church steps (is that not prophetic?). We have had many lovely shared memories in the few months we have been dating, so I am very grateful for this new addition to my life.
In January I went with my travel buddy, Nancy Cobb, to FIJI, where we attended the lovely wedding of my niece, Katie Munkres, on the beach on one of the three stunning islands we visited. We snorkeled, kayaked, visited several native villages, swam in the cave where “Blue Lagoon” was filmed, and partied and partied!
In March Gretchen, Randy, Owen and Simon came from Portland for a week for Spring Break. The boys loved the pool and the beach, and we had three fun days at Disneyworld. Later in the month Frank invited me on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, a delightful time of shopping, eating, swimming with the stingrays, and dancing the night away!
In April Nancy and I traveled to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman for two weeks. Dubai is almost beyond imagination – from the tallest building in the world (see Spider Woman on the photo collage;-), a several-story indoor ski slope INSIDE the shopping mall, internet access even in the restrooms on the beach, vending machines where you could buy gold bars, to the most amazing modern architecture I have ever seen. Abu Dhabi is the oil center and a more serious member of the Emirates, while the country of Oman, while scenic, was like going back in time to another world, i.e., it is the death penalty to have any liquor in the entire country! We rode camels, took wild rides in jeeps across the sand dunes, traveled scary dirt roads over the mountain cliffs and deep canyons, stayed in a tent in a desert camp as well as an almost “erector set” like box room on the side of a mountain, and even visited a Bedouin home.
Later in the month Frank took me on a 4 day trip to Las Vegas where we stayed at the gorgeous Bellagio and saw three Cirque de Soleil shows, including the new Michael Jackson “One.” Then in May he surprised me with a trip to Puerto Rico for my birthday where again we shopped, ate, and explored. (Unfortunately, I have gained 10 pounds since we started dating! 😉 June brought the national Society for Human Resource Management conference in Orlando where I have spoken since 1997 and then the National Speakers Association convention in San Diego where we also visited my aunt and the Johnstons, longtime friends.
In July I was the opening keynote speaker for the Human Capital Forum CEO conference in Guatemala City. In the audience were three executives from the largest church in Latin America, Casa de Dios, and afterwards, they invited me to speak that evening to 10,000 people, a mountain top experience! (You can see the picture of me on four HUGE jumbo-trons.) While in Guatemala, we took a trip to Antigua and also to a huge outdoor market. Of course, I had to buy an extra bag for all my treasures! At the end of the month, Garrett, Ashley, Gavin and Kinsey came from Seattle with friends for a fun week on the beach.
In August, I accompanied my 91 year old aunt Joan along with Frank to Bali, Indonesia, to see the gorgeous new resort my cousin, Warren, had just opened on the beach in Denpasar. We visited temples, took a trip to see the Komodo dragons, white-water rafted, and shopped and shopped. Frank and I also flew to Singapore for 4 days where I spoke to the Asia Speakers Association. We stayed with new friends in a lovely home, and several friends showed off their island, including a boat tour, dinner on the beach, and the orchid gardens.
I spent Labor Day week in Portland with Erin and Gretchen and family. We rafted down the river, went to the beach, and played. I attended Guideposts’ Board meetings in Dana Point, CA, at the end of the month and then flew to Denver for a really fun reunion with my Gamma Phi Beta sisters from KU and on to Grand Junction, CO, to visit my brother, Bruce, and sister, Beth.
November will find me speaking in Hawaii twice and then on to keynote the Human Capital Forum CEO conferences in Bogota, Colombia, and Santiago, Chile. Erin and I are planning to spend Christmas in Colorado with family.
Garrett continues to do exceedingly well with Microsoft in Seattle. Ashley and Kinsey, 13, are enjoying riding and have a new horse named Rally. Gavin just turned 16 so has his first job AND a driver’s license. Gretchen is enjoying working at a boutique in Portland while the boys are in school, and Randy is continuing his graphics and web design work. Owen, 9, and Simon, 7, are into soccer, baseball, Legos, Mine Craft, and learning camps. Erin is loving her new home and new kitty, Cricket, while still working for True Collaborative Fashion where they rep several lines made in the US. She travels all over the country showing their beautiful, fun lines of women’s clothing.
Professionally, I have been blessed to speak to many wonderful clients this year, and I am working on a new video demo tape as well as a new website. On the personal side, my heart has ached for the suffering and loss of some of my dearest friends, so while I am overcome with gratitude for the BLESSING of my life and all the experiences I have been privileged to share, I am struck by the fragility of life and the gift of EVERY DAY. May this year be filled with peace, love and joy for each one of you. How grateful I am to have you all in my life!
“In the end, nothing we do or say in this lifetime will matter as much as the way we have loved one another.”
Blessings,
Last night I saw a most touching and powerful movie titled, “Alive Inside.” It is a documentary about one man’s passion for helping dementia and alzheimer’s patients by giving them headphones and an iPad with their favorite music on it. People who had been completely unresponsive or had not spoken in years simply came alive — and all for the cost of about $40!
Spearheaded by social worker, Dan Cohen, these deeply touching, life-transforming experiences were captured on film over the course of three years. You will laugh and you will cry, but most of all, you will wonder WHY insurance companies, nursing care facilities, and doctors alike do not support this inexpensive, joyful way to bring back memories and awaken senses instead of medicating these people to often become zombies.
This movie especially reminded me of my own passion as a young person. I was a pianist in high school and won contests all around the state, but I also loved people, so I did not want to be in a practice room for hours and hours a day; plus I realized I had the talent but was just not cutthroat enough to become a concert pianist. Thus, when I learned about it, Music Therapy seemed like a perfect fit for me.
At that time Music Therapy was a brand new field, so when I was choosing a college, there were only two schools in the country that offered it — the University of Kansas and UCLA. Having grown up in a town of 4500 in Iowa, going to California seemed like going across the world to me at the time, so I chose KU.
Although I loved my professors and the school, the first year was very discouraging for me. In those days in Music Therapy, they required you to learn to play every instrument there was. Having been extremely involved in my piano and often practicing 3 and 4 hours a day, I never had time to do this when I was younger. Therefore, it turned out to be a very humiliating experience. I will never forget how the girls in my sorority house AND my little brothers teased me when I was practicing “Merrily We Roll Along” on the saxophone for my final exam!
As a result, I ended up changing my major to Piano my sophomore year and then switching to English my junior year to become a teacher. I still kept my love for music, but, at least at that time, I thought I could give more back in the classroom and feel more sure of myself by teaching English and drama in high school and college. After watching this precious movie, however, I must admit that I am a little sorry that I did not stick it out. Watching these lives being transformed to find JOY and LIFE again was a wonderful blessing.
Now, I am thinking about how I can become more involved in this pursuit — buying some ear phones and iPods and taking them to local nursing homes and donating money to Dan Cohen’s foundation, musicandmemory.org. In the meantime, I am going to make sure that MY children have a list of all my favorite music because one day each of us may very likely find ourselves, just like so many aging people today, struggling to hold onto our pasts.
This precious movie proves that music CAN heal hearts and souls! Thank you, Dan Cohen, for the blessing you have brought to so many lives.
EVERY DAY IS A GIFT!
Yesterday I found out that a dear friend of mine had been in a terrible car accident Monday night as she was returning home from work. She was broadsided and had to be removed from the car with the jaws of life. Today she had surgery for a broken hip. How her life changed in a few moments!
This morning I got a message that a dear family friend of many years had died suddenly in his chair in California. He had had no serious health issues, and we had just visited with him and his wife in July, going to water aerobics with him, a tennis match, and several dinners out, and he was his usual visionary self.
I was shocked to learn last weekend that another speaker friend from Canada had died, and I know several dear friends who are struggling with persistent and ongoing health issues that have recently attacked them.
Read More…
An interesting exchange took place on Facebook this past week after Graphic Recorder Tim Hamons created and posted a visual representation of my Singapore talk. It truly reinforced for me that no matter where you are in the world, your words and actions matter! You CAN make a positive change and inspire others to do the same with very SIMPLE, no- or low-cost techniques! The following is a friend of Tim Hamons’ commenting on his Facebook Timeline on the illustration he made of my work. I LOVE that Tim was able to take away SO much of my talk so easily! Tanvi Gautam: This is amazing !! I could not make it due to another meeting but I feel like I was almost there. Thank you so much Tim ! Can someone please elaborate on the Pennies in pocket and good news points on the MSA model please ? thanks so much. Tim Hamons: Hi Tanvi Gautam. Barbara Glanz was illustrating a simple model MSA: Models, Stories, Action Ideas…. Some examples of action ideas: Pennies in pocket- give your kids each 5 pennies to put in left pocket. Every time they give a compliment to someone during the day they move a penny to other pocket. The goal is to move them all across everyday. “Good News” is simply starting a meeting by asking everyone to share some “good news” as a way to begin the meeting. What Actionable Ideas has someone in your workplace or personal life done recently to touch lives?Touching Lives
The questions then, are:
What can YOU do today to take action, inspire others and model positivity?
Tell me YOUR story and ideas! I’d LOVE to hear from you!
A good ad should be like a good sermon; it must not only comfort the afflicted, it must also afflict the comfortable! - Bernice Fitz-Gibbons -